Conducting a bombing run in January 1968, a weapons malfunction forced Air Force Colonel Thomas Moe to bail out over enemy territory. After three days on the ground successfully avoiding capture, he was eventually discovered and imprisoned by the North Vietnamese for the next five years. Although offered an early release, he refused, on the grounds that POWs should be sent home according to the order of their capture. After further pressure to accept a release, he went on an eight-day hunger strike. Constant torture and beatings led to extensive kidney damage; through the care of his roommate, Myron, and his mental resolve, he survived until his release in March 1973.